slow cooker question
3katz4me
4 years ago
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Comments (11)
alex9179
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoalex9179
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
dutch oven vs slow cooker?
Comments (21)I use the crock pot as a warmer to keep things like mashed potatoes warm while I finish the rest of the dinner for big family dinners.They don't get scorched like they would on the stove. I also use it to keep baked beans warm that I cooked on the stove. They are great for keeping rolls and corn muffins warm when you making a lot for a big family dinner.If they get too moist then place a paper towel or napkin over the top. I rarely use it for cooking. We don't care for way the meat and vegetables turn out for stews.It does a good job on spaghetti sauce because you don't have to worry about it burning with a long cooking time. I like my dutch oven for stews.It does a great job on tough meat.After slow cooking it for hours, it will be tinder. I like to make chicken stews as well. A small dutch oven is great as a deep fryer.You don't need so much oil and it holds it's temperature well.You can deep fry donuts or tempera with great results.You don't need a deep fryer that you might only use once a month....See MoreSlow Cooker died, info needed for new one
Comments (6)If you want slow and low, you might want an old style Crock Pot from a garage sale. I forget when they changed the temperatures, but they used to be made for 8-10 hour cooks, and now they are meant to be done in 4-5 hours. There are ones that have fancy temperature settings, however, that let you have some control. The crock pots that just have low and high apparently are meant to get to the same temperature on both--just past boiling--but the low cycles slower and cooks slower. Some have a keep warm setting that some people have found works well for them with the old fashioned crock pot recipes. Crock pots were invented by a guy who wanted to make cholent--a bean stew that used to be made in the banked fires of community bread ovens overnight for the Jewish sabbath. He really expected his to run for 18 hours or more. They were very straightforward. The new kind confuse me with their too high temperatures. The whole premise was supposed to be that you could leave it all day without touching it. The government got into it and said that people would open them early and eat foods that hadn't had a chance to come to safe temperature, so even though people have been cooking this way for millennia and living to tell the tale, we have to be protected from those who won't follow instructions. Sigh. I can't recommend models. I can just say to research well and be aware of what the new one can do and how it fits your expectations....See MoreSlow cooker questions
Comments (13)I don't use any actual "crock" pots I use slow cookers that use a regular pot. I have had my favorite one that I use quite often since shortly after we got married, so very very very long ago! I was hosting a Tupperware party and that was the hostess gift if you had enough sales, I did. What a fabulous work horse it has been. And my mom had one exactly like it but smaller so now I have hers too. This is the one that it is like West Bend 84905 5-Quart Oblong-Shaped Slow Cooker It sits on a burner unit so you can use the pot on the stove too. I have never used the burner unit as a griddle but you can do that. My pots that are for that unit have never lost a single spot of the non stick coating it is all fully as it came. A few years ago I decided I wanted to get their bigger one which has a stainless steel pot this one West Bend 84866 6-Quart Versatility Slow Cooker with Glass Cover, Stainless Many reviews warned that the coating inside would come off very quickly. Well they were right, I used it maybe 3 times and the non stick coating came off in big pieces. So now I have a pretty pot I can not use and a nice new heating base. I should have contacted them and had them replace it with another model but I didn't. What I do now is use the base with one of my oval enamel cast iron pots and it works very well. But I would absolutely get another one of the original kind if mine every died. It must be over a hundred in slow cooker years lol. I did find another of the pots that fit on the original one at a goodwill store and snatched it up with the lid included so now I have 2 pots and 2 lids for that base. I don't think I have any other kitchen appliance that I have used as much and has lasted so long and worked perfectly for so many years. I do have an Aroma cooker that I love but mine does not have the slow cooker feature, it does have the brown and saute feature. I would love it if mine had the slow cook on it but that feature started coming out on them just after I was given mine for a Christmas gift....See MoreLarge groups/parties, are slow cookers an answer?
Comments (27)Well, my microwave occasionally needs to be beat on to start, but when it does, it's 1200 watts of pure zappin' power, baby!! Of course, people first, then food then ambiance....but in my experience all 3 go hand in hand. People who are good cooks, serve it well....and people who aren't good cooks? Well let's not even go there....this is a cooking forum!! ;-) I remember being invited to dinner at someone's house who were obviously trying to put on the dog, with no though to guests comfort. There were what appeared to be "wedding gift" candle sticks with lit scented candles, on a miserably hot night, with no airconditioning and the windows closed, because we don't want the candles to drip on the tablecloth. And the food was awful! I have eaten a hot dog cooked on a stick over an open fire, sitting on a log, with my front baking and my backside freezing, where the host said "let me grab you another beer, it's cold when you get away from the fire"...that was better than a fancy dinner where the hostess was worried about the candles dripping. One time about this time of the year, I invited a guy I was dating over for dinner. The evening was lovely and warm, and it seemed like it would be the last night eating on the deck. The deck and table covered with leaves, had not been swept....so I dumped the leaves off the chairs and table, grabbed a picnic table cloth, put tea lights into a couple of jelly jars, poured the wine, plated the pork chops and baked potatoes and we had a wonderful dinner amid the crunchy leaves. It's all about the host or hostess being willing to go the extra mile. Not thinking "it's too much trouble...I am busy.." I can't imagine making a lovely beef stew and home made bread and serving it from anything but real dishes. You may be on the way to a show or a game and not have time to wash the dishes until the next day....but to me a stack of dirty plates in the kitchen is a small price for a nicely served meal....See Moremaddielee
4 years ago3katz4me
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoalex9179
4 years ago3katz4me
4 years agorunninginplace
4 years agoFeathers11
4 years agomaddielee
4 years agoalex9179
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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